Part 2: The Overlooked of Philadelphia

Hi, it’s Kai again! I’m back and writing my latest You and the World post. If you haven’t read my first post I’ll give you a quick recap. I’m in 9th grade and my English teacher is asking us to write three blog posts about an issue that we personally are passionate about. I chose to write about the overlooked and forgotten of Philadelphia. Basically I want to know how less fortunate people feel about the way the government has been taking care of them. To learn more about my topic I will be working closely with the Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry (GACM) and Abbotsford Falls Family Practice and Counselling (AFFPC). The GACM provides resources to people who have suddenly found themselves in a crisis. They offer canned goods, housing, and financial help. AFFPC is a clinic in Germantown that  is known for taking patients without insurance, and providing them with whatever medical help they might need.

For my research plan I conducted an interview with RN Leslie Burton at AFFPC. I know that a majority of the patients that come to the AFFPC don't have insurance, which is why they get so many patients. In my opinion this is a problem because there is no reason that a person shouldn't qualify for health insurance healthcare has come to be a basic human necessity. I also that the amount of people without insurance is ridiculous and the people without it are the ones who need it the most. The fact that the government isn't doing anything to help it is not okay. In fact a lot of people aren't condoning things like the Affordable Care Act.  Ms. Burton on the other hand had a slightly different view she feels as though there are so many people that need help and the government can't help everybody so it's up to the people to step up.

During my interview with Ms. Burton I wanted to know where the influence of the government comes in to play as well as how her patients feel about the government or their current situations. What I found was that most of the patients that Ms. Burton encounters are impoverished, and not very comfortable or happy about it. In the AFFPC offices there are in house social workers that often have patients referred to them by the nurses. Even while there are plenty of resources to help the patients that are funded by the government such as food stamps. The patients know little about what is happening in the higher places, leaving most of the pressure on the nurses to inform patients of anything that could potentially impact their lives.

My research isn't just based on the people who are overlooked by the government… it's also about the people left to take care of them who are just important. Leslie Burton and Eileen Jones only only a small portion of overlooked Philadelphians and without more of them, a large percentage of Philadelphia would be forgotten. I learned that everybody deserves to be heard and to know that somebody cares, even if they don't believe it. We have to start looking out for eachother. As a people we should stick together and work for the change that we want to see in our community. Check back soon for my next post to see how my work at the GACM went. Thanks for reading.

My annotated bibliography here.